A network device may facilitate an exchange of information packets via a communication network. For example, a network switch or router can receive streams of information packets from other devices, such as Personal Computers (PCs). The network device may then transmit the information packets to other network devices, such as to other network switches or routers. Those network devices may in turn forward the information packets until they reach an appropriate destination.
Each information packet may be associated with a destination address. A network device can then process and transmit the information packet as appropriate (e.g., to another network switch or router) in accordance with the destination address. To facilitate this process, the network device may store a list of destination addresses and associated routing information in memory. Accessing such a list, however, may take a considerable amount of time—especially when the network device needs to search for routing information associated with a lengthy destination address. Moreover, the amount of time required to access the information may degrade the performance of a high-speed network device.